Effects of Problem-Solving and Collaborative Strategies on Students’ Performance in Geometry in Zaria Local Government Area Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of problem-solving and collaborative strategies on performance in geometry among senior secondary school students in Zaria Local Government Area, Kaduna State. The sample for the study consisted of 148 SS2 students, including 77 males and 71 females, selected using simple random sampling from a population of 3,200 SS2 students (1,780 males and 1,460 females) across twenty-eight senior secondary schools in the area. Two research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Three schools were randomly selected, with two used for the experimental groups—Experimental Group A (Problem-Solving Strategy) and Experimental Group B (Collaborative Strategy)—while the third school served as the control group (Conventional Method). The Geometry Performance Test (GPT) was used as the research instrument for both the pre-test and post-test. The collected data were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed a significant difference in academic performance between students exposed to Problem-Solving and Collaborative Strategies compared to those taught using the Conventional Method, with the experimental groups performing better. Additionally, the findings indicated no significant difference in the academic performance of male and female students taught using problem-solving and collaborative strategies, suggesting that both genders benefited equally from these approaches. However, within the experimental groups, male students performed slightly higher than their female counterparts. The researcher recommended that collaborative and problem-solving strategies should be adopted for teaching geometry. Furthermore, training programs such as workshops, conferences, and seminars should be organized for mathematics teachers to equip them with the necessary skills to implement these strategies effectively.